Ever since Tesla put its first EV on the market a decade ago, electric cars have been polarizing buyers. While some decide to stick with traditional gas-powered cars, more and more owners are now switching to EV. And despite providing an innovative way of powering cars, it's still mistaken to consider EVs a completely better alternative to traditional cars.
Sure, electric vehicles are quieter, more comfortable, and bring the possibility of a greener and more sustainable future. But there are quite a few disadvantages to them as well - quite big ones, in fact. And these disadvantages are arguably enough for us to not consider buying an EV for a long time to come. To find out what they are, keep reading.
15 Charging Station Woes
This is one of the biggest headaches facing those that own and drive electric cars. The thing with a petrol/diesel car is that gas stations are plentiful. You don’t need to go far at all to go and fill one of them up. It’s easy as hell. But electric charging points, and ones that are fast, are few and far between. Until this changes, and charging time reduces significantly, we can't even consider EVs as a wise option.
14 Range Of Cars
The unimpressive range of electric cars is another big problem that EV companies have yet to solve (at an affordable price, that is). You only have to look at a Formula E race. They are only in the second season of races where they don’t have to swap cars mid-race, due to battery life. Most affordable cars average no more than 100 miles on one charge, so if you are going on holiday by car you still can’t exactly do it with an EV.
13 Expensive To Buy
The cars may be meant to save the planet, but to participate, you have to be ready to shell out a massive amount of cash. No thanks! A lot of this can be traced down to the fact that, with the technology still in its infancy, it costs a lot to make the parts and batteries, ergo it costs more to buy one. It might be multiple decades until EVs become affordable to the average buyer, despite the savings on fuel (which are, again, offset by immense repair costs).
12 They Still Cause Pollution
Despite being significantly more environmentally friendly than cars powered by fossil fuels, EVs are FAR from being green. A gasoline car will produce around 381 grams of CO2 per mile, on average. An electric car produces a lot less, but it will still make 156 grams on average. The electric power that goes into the engine has to come from somewhere, and unfortunately, fossil fuels are still used to create it.
11 Battery Recycling Is A Problem
Like a phone battery, your electric car battery will lose some of that overall charge over time. By 2025, it is predicted electric cars will start booming (market-wise), according to RES-EV. So, 20 years later, what's going to happen to older batteries that need disposing of? Whilst these batteries are recyclable, right now not many places actually accept them. Interesting times ahead.
10 Some Sadly Lack Power
This could be the biggest problem facing these cars. It is a lot more basic, but still a problem. See, there is no point buying a fancy, eco-friendly electric car if it’s not going to get you anywhere at a reasonable speed. With all that weight, and a limited range, they can’t go too fast or the battery will drain.
9 The Disadvantage Of Uncertainity
With petrol engines serving us for so long, it's a risky investment for anyone to switch to electric, not knowing what the future holds. What happens to old petrol/gas stations? Will charging times decrease? Will they become safer if a battery explodes? And who can repair these engines if the repair prices suddenly increase? These are all big questions, and quite frankly, it's simpler to sit it out and see what happens.
8 Limited Variety In What’s Available
There aren’t really a lot of cars out there that are fully electric, are there? Only a few manufacturers make solely electric vehicles, and only Tesla has managed to earn enough trust from consumers - and Teslas are still failing their owners constantly.
Even the big car companies that make them, like Nissan, BMW, and Audi, don’t produce many of them. And quite frankly, does anyone want to drive in a car called the Nissan Leaf?
7 Might Not Be The Future
After all the money that has been spending on these things, you’d have thought we’d know if they are the future. But the truth is, they might not be. Hydrogen fuel-cell machines could be the way forward, it’s easier to transport the energy needed and they don’t need ‘recharging’ they can be filled up like a conventional car, just not with petrol.
6 Dangerous If They Catch Fire
Okay, anything is dangerous if it catches fire. But an electric car battery? Very dangerous. Look at Richard Hammond, after he crashed the Rimac a couple of years ago in The Grand Tour. A big crash yes, but that car burned for days before it was fully extinguished. That doesn’t really instill a lot of confidence in me that they are right for the future.
5 Charging Times Can Be Hours
The upside of this is, as electric cars and the technology progress, it will not take as long for them to charge. But the truth is, right now, they take far too long to charge. At home, it’s pretty bad unless you have a dedicated ‘fast charge’ point installed at your house, which is unlikely. You are going to need a regular car on standby.
4 They Are Initially Very Expensive
If you are a homeowner, you probably know that electricity isn’t cheap. It’s a power source we all need in the 21st century but still, it's expensive. So can you imagine trying to add the cost of charging an electric car onto that? And how many times are you probably going to need to charge one? These things are not cheap. To buy, or run.
3 Not Cheap To Replace Battery Packs
Another thing to consider is how expensive the battery packs are to replace. They just are not cheap. Lithium is a rare metal that can only be found in a handful of countries. So how on earth are they going to make any battery replacement affordable? Especially if they only last around four years. Like a phone battery, it’ll lose charge over time. A regular car loses horsepower, but not necessarily fuel consumption.
2 Issues Around The Manufacturers
Another thing to lack is the issues surrounding the companies who actually make the cars. Tesla, of course, owned by Elon Musk, well he can’t keep his mouth shut on Twitter, can he? Particularly as he has just lost $14b of his companies value after that recent tweet. And the VW group is still recovering from the diesel-gate fiasco.
1 Lack Of Noise Could Be An Issue
I don’ mean the lack of noise in terms of “they sound rubbish” like you hear with Formula E. Quite frankly as long as the racing is good, it shouldn’t matter. And the racing IS good. But a quiet car, coming around a corner with someone walking along the road if it's in the countryside? Yeah, it’s harder to hear one of these things coming.
Sources: CAR Magazine, Wikipedia, Green Car Reports, Top Speed, Auto Guide